Yes Peas! Healthy Pea Soup Recipe

I’ve been feeling inspired to cook lately, and with the holidays over I find I actually have time on the weekends to visit the market, cook & try new recipes.

After posting my Grandma’s healthy rye bread (rogebrot) recipe I was reminded of another one of my favourite “Grandma recipes” – her Pea Soup.

This recipe is healthy & hearty, and perfect for during the winter months.

The base of this soup is dried split peas. Peas are a food that I think have been ignored in terms of their amazing health benefits:

-Peas are a legume, which means they’re high in fibre (good for proper digestion) and folic acid (important for women of child-bearing age)
-They’re a great vegetarian source of protein
-Great source of B vitamins & vitamin C – strengthens the immune system, which can help prevent the flu!
-High in minerals such as calcium, iron, copper, zinc, and manganese
-Rich in plant sterols, which helps lower bad cholesterol levels
-Great source of vitamin A, which is important for healthy eyes & skin

The original recipe calls for white potatoes, but I decided to sub in sweet potatoes (tasted the same!), which are high in fibre & less starchy, which means they don’t spike your blood sugar like regular white potatoes do.

If the man in your life isn’t excited about the idea of soup for dinner, don’t worry. This is one of my husband’s favorite meals because it includes sausage (all-natural, nitrate-free chicken/turkey sausages from Sausage King of course!), and pork (antibiotic & hormone-free).

That being said, if you’re a vegetarian or trying to cut back on your meat intake; you can make this soup vegetarian if you prefer. If you decide to skip the meat, I would recommend adding barley or whole-wheat noodles – combining a whole grain with a legume = a complete protein!

The peas take about an hour and half to soften so this soup is perfect to make on a Sunday afternoon while watching football (I’m really appealing to the men now!). Enjoy!